A ritual is a set of actions taken to create a certain state in a person's mind. A ritual has its own reality, much like a play, and for this reason rituals are thought to have magical effects. For instance, in ceremonial magic a magician visualizes a cross of light within his body, forms a circular boundary around his working area, and seals it with pentagrams at the cardinal points of the compass. The effect of this ritual is to clear out the physical and psychic space he's working in. It works because the drama enacted in the ritual is real to him. The success of a ritual--whether or not the desired state is achieved--depends on the extent to which the participants immerse themselves in the ritual's fantasy.